MORONI, Comoros: A man who attacked Comoros President Azali Assoumani with a knife and injured him slightly has been found dead in prison, the national prosecutor said Saturday, a day after the incident.
“He was isolated in a cell so that he could calm down yesterday after his arrest. Investigators found his lifeless body lying on the floor this morning. A doctor declared him dead,” Ali Mohamed Djounaid told a press conference.
“An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of his death,” he added.
Government spokeswoman Fatima Ahamada said Saturday that 65-year-old Assoumani was at home with his family and “doing very well.”
The attack took place during a funeral for a well-known religious leader.
The knife injured the president’s hand, but the attacker was stopped by another mourner, witnesses said.
Assoumani was reelected as president of Comoros in January in a vote denounced by opposition parties as fraudulent. At least one person died in unrest following the election. Assoumani, 65, is a former military leader who first came to power in Comoros in a coup in 1999.
The country, which is made up of an archipelago of islands off the east coast of Africa, has experienced more than a dozen coups or attempted coups since its independence from France in 1975.
Comoros president’s knife attacker found dead in prison: prosecutor
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Comoros president’s knife attacker found dead in prison: prosecutor
- President Azali Assoumani’s injuries were not serious and he had returned to his home
- Assoumani was reelected as president of Comoros in January in a vote denounced by opposition parties as fraudulent
Taliban morality enforcers arrest men for having the wrong hairstyle or skipping mosque, UN says
- The Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws last August covering many aspects everyday life in Afghanistan
- The Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has emphasized the primacy of Islamic law
The Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws last August covering many aspects everyday life in Afghanistan, including public transport, music, shaving and celebrations. Most notably, the ministry issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public.
That same month, a top UN official warned the laws provided a “distressing vision” for the country’s future by adding to existing employment, education, and dress code restrictions on women and girls. Taliban officials have rejected UN concerns about the morality laws.
Thursday’s report, from the UN mission in Afghanistan, said in the first 6 months of the laws’ implementation, over half of detentions made under it concerned “either men not having the compliant beard length or hairstyle, or barbers providing non-compliant beard trimming or haircuts.”
The report said that the morality police regularly detained people arbitrarily “without due process and legal protections.”
During the holy fasting month of Ramadan, men’s attendance at mandated congregational prayers was closely monitored, leading at times to arbitrary detention of those who didn’t show up, the report added.
The UN mission said that both sexes were negatively affected, particularly people with small businesses such as private education centers, barbers and hairdressers, tailors, wedding caterers and restaurants, leading to a reduction or total loss of income and employment opportunities.
The direct and indirect socio-economic effects of the laws’ implementation were likely to compound Afghanistan’s dire economic situation, it said. A World Bank study has assessed that authorities’ ban on women from education and work could cost the country over $1.4 billion per year.
The Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has emphasized the primacy of Islamic law and the role of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue in reforming Afghan society and its people.
In a message issued ahead of the religious Eid Al-Fitr festival that marks the end of Ramadan, Akhundzada said it was necessary “to establish a society free from corruption and trials, and to prevent future generations from becoming victims of misguided beliefs, harmful practices and bad morals.”
More than 3,300 mostly male inspectors are tasked with informing people about the law and enforcing it, according to the report.
Nobody from the Vice and Virtue Ministry was immediately available for comment about the report.
US and Russia swap prisoners
- Russia released a dual Russian-US citizen jailed for donating to a charity providing aid to Ukraine
- The US freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus
MOSCOW: Russia released a dual Russian-US citizen jailed for donating to a charity providing aid to Ukraine, her lawyer said on Thursday, in what the Wall Street Journal described as a swap for a Russian-German national jailed in the United States.
A lawyer for Ksenia Karelina, who was found guilty last year of treason by a Russian court for donating money to a US-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, said she was on her way back to the United States.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted talks for the swap in Abu Dhabi, according to a CIA official quoted by the Journal.
“Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia,” Ratcliffe said in a statement to the Journal. “I’m proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the Government of U.A.E. for enabling the exchange.”
Karelina left for the US on a plane from Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning, her Russian lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said.
She was swapped for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the US for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
The US Justice Department said last year that Petrov had participated in a scheme to procure US-sourced microelectronics for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.
Beijing slams ‘irresponsible remarks’ after Zelensky says Chinese recruits fighting for Russia
- Foreign ministry spokesman: Beijing ‘has always required that its nationals stay away from areas of armed conflict’
BEIJING: China warned parties in the Ukraine war on Thursday against making “irresponsible remarks” after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Beijing knows its citizens are being recruited by Russia to fight in the conflict.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that Kyiv had details of 155 Chinese nationals who had been deployed to assist Moscow’s invasion, a day after claiming the Ukrainian army had captured two Chinese soldiers in the eastern Donetsk region.
Asked about Zelensky’s assertion on Thursday, Beijing’s foreign ministry told “relevant parties” to “refrain from expressing irresponsible remarks.”
“We would advise the relevant parties to recognize China’s role correctly and clear-headedly,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular news briefing, without mentioning Ukraine or Zelensky by name.
China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in the grinding three-year war despite criticism from Western governments that its close ties to Russia have given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that the “overt involvement of Chinese citizens in combat operations... is a deliberate step toward expanding the war.”
“They drag other countries into war,” Zelensky said of Russia.
“I believe that they are now dragging China into this war.”
Lin said Beijing “has always required that its nationals... avoid involving themselves in armed conflicts in any form.”
“China is not a creator of or party to the Ukraine crisis. We are staunch supporters and active promoters of a peaceful resolution,” he said.
Pope Francis meets privately with King Charles and Queen Camilla during his Vatican convalescence
- Meeting with the pontiff during the royal couple’s four-day state visit to Italy
- It was the first known meeting since the pope’s return to the Vatican after weeks on the hospital
ROME: Pope Francis met privately with King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at the Vatican during the royal couple’s four-day state visit to Italy and on the occasion of their 20th wedding anniversary, the Vatican announced.
It was the first known meeting since the pope’s return to the Vatican after five weeks in the hospital for life-threatening double pneumonia. Francis had planned to have an audience with Charles, but the official state visit to the Vatican was postponed due to the pope’s health.
The pope issued a new invitation for a private audience, but it was subject to his health and only confirmed Wednesday morning. The mid-afternoon visit lasted about 20 minutes and included a private exchange of gifts. Discussions continue about a future visit by the monarch to the Vatican.
The Vatican statement said the pope wished Charles and Camilla a happy anniversary, and the king and queen in return wished the pope a speedy recovery. Buckingham Palace said “their majesties were delighted the pope was well enough to host them, and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person.”
The royal couple previously saw Francis during an April 2017 visit to the Vatican. King Charles, then Prince of Wales, also met Pope Francis during the 2019 canonization of St. John Henry Newman.
The pope has been convalescing at the Vatican since March 23 and made an appearance to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday. He was pushed in a wheelchair, wearing nasal tubes for supplemental oxygen, and wished the crowd a good Sunday from the front of the altar before being greeted by participants in the Mass, some of whom leaned to kiss his hands.
Charles addresses Parliament
Earlier on Wednesday, Charles stressed the need for close ties between Italy and the UK in a historic speech in the Italian parliament, calling for unity in defense of common values at a time of war in Europe.
Charles, the first British monarch and fourth foreign leader to address a joint session of the Italian parliament, highlighted the long history between the UK and Italy and their shared culture, going back to the ancient Romans.
“Our younger generations can see in the news every day on their smartphones and tablets that peace is never to be taken for granted,” Charles said.
The British king was on the third day of his visit to Italy, seen as part of an ongoing effort by London to strengthen ties with its European allies amid global turbulence and rising instability.
“Our countries have both stood by Ukraine in her hour of need and welcomed many thousands of Ukrainians requiring shelter,” he said in his speech, warning that images of wars were now reverberating again across the continent.
Charles added that Italian and British armed forces “stand side by side” as part of the NATO alliance, noting the two countries’ joint plans to develop with Japan a new fighter jet.
“It will generate thousands of jobs in our countries and speaks volumes about the trust we place in each other,” he said.
During the Italian trip, King Charles and Queen Camilla also marked their 20th wedding anniversary, which was to include a state dinner later Wednesday hosted by President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale palace.
The queen marked her anniversary by wearing her wedding dress, which had been modified by its designer Anne Valentine, with additional embroidery by King’s Foundation artisan Beth Somerville. The garment was originally worn for the civil ceremony, when Camilla paired the outfit with a hat made of natural straw, overlaid with ivory French lace designed by Philip Treacy.
On her wedding day, Camilla later wore a separate chiffon dress embroidered pale blue and gold coat for the wedding blessing at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Earlier on Wednesday, Charles met Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni at Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphili, enjoying a walk in the 17th Century palace’s gardens.
In a few weeks, he will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe together with Mattarella.
Climate change warnings
Charles also spoke passionately in his address about threats facing the planet, recalling another speech he gave in Italy 16 years ago and how the “warnings” he made at the time about the urgency of the climate challenge were “depressingly being borne out by events.”
He noted extreme storms “normally seen once in a generation” are now an issue every year, and “countless precious plant and animal species face extinction in our lifetimes”.
Sections of the speech were delivered in Italian, with the King prompting the applause of Italian lawmakers when he noted: “And by the way, I hope I’m not ruining Dante’s language so much that I’m no never invited to Italy again.”
Charles was on his first trip abroad this year after being taken to hospital over side effects related to his ongoing cancer treatment.
A dozen Ukrainians wounded in overnight Russian attack: Kyiv
- The air force said that Russia had attacked with 145 drones
- The emergency services said 10 people were wounded with three taken to hospital
KYIV, UKRAINE: Ukraine on Thursday said that a dozen people were wounded in overnight Russian attacks on the capital Kyiv and the southern Black Sea region of Mykolaiv.
AFP journalists in the capital heard air raid sirens and explosions ring out over the city during the attack.
The air force said that Russia had attacked with 145 drones, including the Iranian-designed Shahed, and that 85 were downed by air defense units.
The emergency services said 10 people were wounded with three taken to hospital in Mykolaiv and that a five-story building caught fire during the attack.
They posted images of rescue workers evacuating the wounded from the scene and digging through the debris.
In Kyiv, two people were wounded and a warehouse caught fire. Local authorities said 16 of 30 drones were downed over the city.
Moscow and Kyiv have stepped up their aerial attacks despite recent attempts by the United States to bring both sides to talks to secure a halt to more than three years of fighting.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, meanwhile said it had downed 42 Ukrainian drones over western and southern regions of the country.
